Method and apparatus for making color-blended wall paper



Feb. 16 1926.

J. J. WARREN METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING COLOR BLENDED WALL PAPER Filed May 8, 1923 Patented Feb. 16, 1926.

' UNITED STATES 1,573,208 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. WARREN, OF BROWNVILLE, NEW YORK.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING COLOR-BLENDED WALL PAPER.

Application filed May 8,

'10 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. VVA-RREN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Brownville, in the county of Jefferson, tate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods and Apparatus for Making Color-Blended \Vall Paper; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to color blending papers, particularly wall papers.

The so-called color blend effects on paper are produced by dropping vari-colored dyes upon the paper web as it passes over the Fourdrinier wires, and it is the usual practice to supply these dyes through perforated pipes extending across the machine. I have found that the drops of dye dropping upon the soft surface of the web strike through and do not give a soft harmonious blend. This result is further aggravated by the tendency of the dye drops to run together along the under side of the pipes and form very large drops which fall upon the web at widely spaced intervals. In attempting to color blend the pulp blended paper described in my U. S. Patent No. 1,344,570, I experienced these difiiculties and found that the blended paper could not be successfully hung; that is, the color spots were so large and pronounced that two strips of the paper hung side by side on the wall would not match, and produced a barred or streaked effect. It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to devise improved ways and means for producing a soft, diffuse color blended paper, particularly a color olended pulp blended paperwell adapted for wall hanging.

In attaining this object, I have done two things. First, I have improved the pipe through. which the dye or color solution is applied, constructing it so that the drops must fall individually and cannot coalesce along the bottom of the pipe. Second, I have applied the dye at just the right place; this place being upon the apron over which the pulp blending stock flows from its blend box onto the web. 7

The accompanying drawings illustrate diagrammatically a preferred embodiment of a machine for practicing my invention. In these drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the 1923. Serial No. 637,423.

wet end of a Fonrdrinier paper machine equlpped with ablend box for pulp blending and also with means for color blending in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail through the forward end of the pulp blending box and the apron over which the blend stock flows onto the web and through the color pipes; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the color piping looking in the direction of the arrow of Fig. 2; and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are details of various types of color pipes designed to discharge individual drops of color solution.

As shown in Fig. 1, the paper stock is delivered through a pipe 1 from a source of supply (not shown) to a flat screen 2 from which the screened stock is conducted by a pipe 4 to a flow box 5, where it passes around baflles 6 onto the Fourdrinier wire 7 in the usual manner. As disclosed in my United States Patent No. 1,344,570, I prefer to add wood-flour to the base stock, thus making the base of the so-called oatmeal type. This woodfiour is conducted by a pipe 8 from a source of supply (not shown) to a union with the pipe 4, so that the paper stock and wood flour pass together intothe flow box 5, where they are more thoroughly mixed before flowing onto the wire apron. The blending stock, a very dilute solution ofsulphite pulp, is supplied by a pipe 9 from a source of supply (not shown) to a blending box 10 where it passes around a series of baflies 11, and thence OYEI an apron or facing slip 12 onto the paper base being formed on the wire apron, the distance between the outlets of the flow box 5 and the blending box 10, and the speed of movement of the wire apron 7, therebetween, being such that the paper base is suitably formed at the time it reaches the blending .box for reception of the blending stock to produce a cloudy coating of the desired appearance and effect. The foregoin is all shown and described in my United btates Patents Nos. 1,344,570 and 1,344,603, and in itself forms no part of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, 1 have provided in addition to the apparatus just described, a series of color pipes 13, which extend across the machine directly above the apron 12. Solutions of any nonbleeding dyes or colors, such as the aniline dyes, are supplied to these pipes from a source (not shown) and permitted to drop through a series of apertures situated upon the bottom of the pipes upon the blending stock as it passes overanddown the apron. The quantity of dye thus supplied can be regulated by means of valves 14 shown on Fig. 3. Any desired color combinations can be used. I have illustrated 4 pipes and each,

of course, can be used to supply a different color. V

I1? Fig. 2, I have illustrated what I believe to be-the action of the dye as It drops upon the apron. The small drops of dye striking the film of' blendin stock passing over the apron penetrate t is and spread out over the face of the apron itself, so that when the color reaches the web, it is overlaid by the sulphite pulp of the blending stock. The result is a very soft and harmonious blend, quite distinct from the more pronounced efi'ects obtained when the dye is dropped directly upon the web. ,Whether the dye acts as I have described infallmg upon the apron, it is, of course, imposslble to say, as a matter of fact, but the theory which I have advanced does certainly explain the undeniable difference in results which I get by applying the dye in this mannerupon the apron and not directly upon the web. i

Were the color pipes merely provided with a series of holes spaced along their lower sides, the small drops of color solutioniwould cling to the pipe, and runninglongitudinally thereof, unite with other drops so that-the distribution of color would not be ood, and large drps of dye would fall at wldely separated intervals, both in time and space. In accordance with this invention, I havedesigned a color pipe in which this coalescing action of the dye drops is im ossible. As shown in Fig. 4, I have provi ed the lower side of the pipe with a series of small downwardl extendin nozzles 15 and each drop emerging from t ese nozzles must fall alone. I can obtain the same resluts in a less expensive way by providing the pipe with a series of annular grooves 16 as shown in Fig. 5 into which the drops ass. This construction makes it dificult or the drops to migrate along the pipe. Fig. 6 shows a still further amplification of this idea; here the actual orifice is flanked with small grooves 17 which prevent movement of the drops longitudinally of the pipe.

The color blended paper made as I have described, has a softness and delicacy unattainable by any other blending method,

and the coloris so soft and diffuse that no difliculty is experienced in using such paper as wall pa er. It is quite possible to hang strips 0 t 0' feet matching.

I claim: 1. The method of making a blended wall paper which comprises flowing a pulp blendmg stock onto the web, the blending stock proaches the web, and applying a color solution to the blending stock as it flows over the apron. I

2. The method of color blending apulp blended wall paper made by flowing a pulp paper side by side with per- 0 flowing over an inclined apron as it apblending stock over'an inclined apron and onto the paper web, which comprises dro ping a color solution upon the apron as t e blending stock is flowed over it.

3. The method of color blending a pulp blended wall lpaper made by flowing a pulp blending stoc over an inclined apron and onto the paper web, which comprises dropping at fixed intervals across the web a color paper, the combination of an inclined apron over which pulp blending stock flows onto the web,.and' a color pipe extending across the machine above the apron for dropping a color solution upon the pulp blending stock as it, flows over the apron.

6. In a machine for making blended .wall paper, the combination of an inclined apron over which pulp blending stock flows onto the web, and a color'pipe provided wlth a plurality of independent nozzles extending across the machine above the apron for dropping a color solution through the nozzles upon the pulp blending stock as it flows over the apron.

7 The method of color blending a pulp blended wall paper made by flowing a pulp blending stock over an inclined apron and onto the paper web, which comprises dropping a color solution upon the apron as the blending stock is flowed over it, the height I 

